Fights and Flights
by tentLIPS
Summary: What if the DADA job wasn't jinxed? After Harry's third year, Remus decides to stick around. Things go a little differently than they did in GoF.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

Somewhere in the gloom of the bookstore, the tinkling of a high-pitched bell rang out, interrupting the sound of pages rustling and the floor creaking under soft footsteps. Only a small number of the bookstore's occupants bothered to look up to see who entered; those who did quickly turned back to their reading, not wanting to be caught staring at the intimidating stranger who was standing in the doorframe.

He was a relatively normal height, brown hair that looked as though it had not seen a haircut in quite a while with flecks of gray showing through. He wore a typical wizard's black cloak, and black gloves that looked as though they had seen far better days. He looked as if he was in his mid forties. In reality, however, he was nearly ten years younger than that, but that was not the strange thing. All of these features could be found on an average man.

The man's eyes, for one, were a bright amber color. They had a distinct canine quality to them; any sane person would be mad to challenge him to a staring contest; it would be impossible to hold eye contact with him for more than five seconds.

Another rather formidable aspect was not a physical feature, but more of the manner of which he simply held himself. It was the air of someone who had seen and suffered far more than any person should in their life.

The man stepped onto the welcome mat on the threshold of the bookstore, shaking snow from his boots as he closed the door behind him. A couple of people who seemed to forget their manners looked up again, watching him with curious eyes. The man seemed to either not notice or care. He strode into the bookstore as if he had been there a thousand times, though none of the frequent visitors knew or even recognized him. An employee who was organizing the books on the shelves opened her mouth as if to ask if he needed help with anything, but she hesitated, seeing that he knew what he was doing, and went back to her work, glad for an excuse not to have to talk to him.

The man hurried over to the back of the store, in the Dark Arts section. He quickly scanned the books above him, hesitated for a moment, then reached up and grabbed a large, ancient-looking brown leather tome. He held the book out in front of him, leaning against the bookcase, and flipped through it. After a couple of moments, he nodded, as if finding the book satisfactory, hurried over to the check-out and paid with a galleon, far more than the book was actually worth, seven sickles. The cashier didn't seem to care. He simply swept up the galleon as if it was contaminated and put it in the large jar that sat behind the counter.

The bell rang again as the man walked outside into the whirlwind of snow and was gone. Some of the occupants wondered if he had really been there at all; all that remained to remind them of him was the galleon in the jar behind the counter, and the steadily melting snow that had been left on the doormat.

* * *

Yeah, it's really short. The other chapters will be longer, I promise. Chapter One is coming soon!


	2. First Day Back

WOOHOO! First chapter is up!

Just so you know, I've skipped the whole world cup thing; This is after the world cup, starting around chapter eleven when Harry, Ron, and Hermione are on the Hogwarts Express. Goes back in forth from Remus's to Harry's POV.

DISCLAIMER: All of the characters in this story are property of J.K. Rowling.

* * *

"I still don't understand why they won't _tell _us!" Ron exclaimed angrily as he bit the head off of a chocolate frog. "I mean, it's not as if we're not about to find out at the feast! Doesn't really matter whether we know now or in an hour!" He gestured angrily, accidentally hitting Pidwigeon's cage. A furious hooting came from the lump under Ron's dress robes.

Harry wasn't really paying attention to Ron's rantings. He was sitting with his head leaning against the window, scanning the Daily Prophet for anything interesting, but to no avail. Most of the articles were rather dull; the only article that stood out sported a picture of the Dark Mark over the treetops at the World Cup. Harry didn't need to look at the title to know that it said something along the lines of _DARK MARK APPEARS AT WORLD CUP! _and that the article carried on about the events that transpired at that time. He had had more than enough of what had taken place over the summer.

Hermione was reading from a copy of _The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Four_ when she looked up and glanced out the window. After a moment, she observed to herself, "we're going to be arriving soon...I should probably get changed..." With that said, she closed her book, got up, and slid open the compartment door. She was about to head up the aisle, but stopped herself and turned around, saying to the boys, "You two should get changed as well." Then, she disappeared in the direction of the bathroom.

Harry and Ron looked at each other and shrugged. "Might as well," Harry decided after a moment, and pulled out his school robes from his trunk and started to change. Ron, after a moment's hesitation, followed suit.

Hermione came back with a worried look on her face a couple of minutes later. "What's wrong?" Harry asked, seeing her expression. She glanced at him, and opened her mouth, about to say something, but decided against it. She sat down across from Harry, and busied herself with becoming buried inside her book.

Harry and Ron exchanged glanced, Harry's expression more of a worried one and Ron's confused. _Wonder what's up, _he mouthed. Harry shrugged. He looked at Hermione, who was still looking out the window, seemingly oblivious to Ron and Harry's concern. "Hermione, what happened?" Harry asked. Hermione didn't look up, but it was obvious that she heard him, because she blushed a furious shade of pink. "Leave it," he heard Ron mutter beside him. Harry obliged after one more worried glance at Hermione, and busied himself with looking out the window into the gloomy rain outside.

A while later, footsteps could be heard outside in the corridor, and Malfoy's voice drifted towards them. "...Can't _believe_ he had the _nerve _to actually come back! That filthy half-breed isn't even worth _living! _My father says that Dumbledore's finally lost it - in my opinion, he lost it quite a while ago-" Their compartment door slid open and Malfoy himself stood in the doorway with Crabbe and Goyle standing behind him, looking for all the world like two very large, ugly gorillas. "Hey, Potter! Did you hear? Lupin's actually decided to _come back! _I mean, honestly! Who does he think he is? That monster isn't even worthy of a filthy mudblood like you, Granger! His-"

He got no further, because both Harry and Ron had stood up and drawn there wands. Both were trained on Malfoy.

"One more word," Ron snarled, "And I'll hex you to hell and back, do you hear me?"

A trace of doubt flitted across Malfoy's face, but Harry wondered if he had imagined it, because it was quickly gone. Malfoy sniggered. "Of course you'll _try_," he drawled, either oblivious or uncaring of the murderous expressions on both Harry's and Ron's faces and the tension level in the compartment. "Not that you'll be able to, Weasley, you aren't even able to afford the books that you'll need to learn something simple as Expelliarmus..."

Ron immediately dropped his wand and launched himself at Malfoy with an enraged cry. Harry reacted a second too late, and leaned forward to drag a struggling Ron away from Goyle, who was holding him back, with difficulty, Harry noted with a slight feeling of satisfaction.

"Let's go," Malfoy muttered. In an instant, Crabbe and Goyle had followed him out the door.

Ron was watching him go with a murderous expression on his face. He sat down, saying, "I hate him. If I ever find him alone without his bodyguards..." He let that hang in the air.

Harry, meanwhile, had his mind on other topics. "Professor Lupin's coming back?" He asked. "Won't it be a bit...hard for him to teach? I mean, everyone knows what he is, so..."

Hermione looked up from her book. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I heard Parvati Patil talking about it on my way here...actually, she seemed rather excited, but that's not the point - I didn't tell you because I figured that you would find out at the Feast. There was an article in the Daily Prophet about... about Dumbledore's 'stange choices' in teachers. I mean, there was Hagrid, and Quirrel, and Professor Lupin...I'm not saying that I _believe _it," she added, seeing the angry looks on Ron and Harry's faces, "but a lot of parents won't want their kids going here anymore..." she trailed off.

For the rest of the ride, they sat in silence, with Hermione reading her book, Ron still fuming about Malfoy, and Harry leaning against the window, his mind a turmoil of thoughts.

* * *

Remus Lupin sat at the great hall teacher table, leaning back in his chair as the students filed in. Quite a number of people were staring at him, a couple in hostility or curiosity, but the majority of faces showed plain fear. He sighed inwardly. If it was like this now, imagine what the actual classes will bring...

Severus Snape was also glaring at Remus from the other side of the table. Remus shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The corners of his colleague's mouth twitched into a smirk, but as it was not common for him to break out into a full-fledged grin, Remus didn't notice the subtle change. Instead, his eyes were trained on the doors of the great hall, where the first years were to be arriving soon...

_Yes! _The doors opened and a group of small children entered the Great Hall, led by Professor McGonagall. The attention of the students in the Great Hall, along with Severus Snape, was distracted. Remus savored the blessed moments of distraction during the sorting and Dumbledore's speech. He only half-listened to what Dumbledore was saying; he already knew what the Triwizard Tournament's rules were. The students, though, were obviously excited. Half of the mouths at the four house tables were hanging open, and all of the eyes at the house tables were wide. Remus chuckled to himself. It was quite a sight, but he was still quite glad when the food appeared in front of him. He began loading food onto his plate, being careful to put on his leather gloves first as to not be affected by the silver cutlery, and began to eat. Minerva McGonagall, sitting to his left, watched him with amusement in her eyes.

"It's really amazing how little you've changed since you were a student, Remus," she observed, grinning in a very un-Minerva-like way.

Remus glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He swallowed the mouthful of rice that he had been chewing and looked at her, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"I've actually changed a lot...it's just my large appetite that's remained." He took another mouthful of rice and chewed thoughtfully. Still chewing, he opened his mouth to say something else, but Minerva shook her head hurriedly. "No, don't say another word. I've had enough on my plate without having to have nightmares about what goes on in your mouth...

She turned to converse with Albus. Remus grinned, and began a rather interesting conversation with Professor Sinistra about blast-ended skrewts.

Once the feast was finished, Dumbledore stood up. "Let it be reminded that the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students will be arriving in two days; I will explain the Triwizard Tournament in greater detail then. Now, chop chop! Off you go to bed!"

There was a rustling as the students pushed back their chairs, talking excitedly to one another as they made their way to their common room, occasionally stopping to ask a nearby house prefect what the password was. The fifth-year prefects guided the first year students out of the hall, in the direction of their individual dormitories.

Remus got up himself and made his own way to his office, pausing briefly to collect his schedule from Minerva McGonagall. Classes didn't start until tomorrow, so he had the rest of the day to prepare for the sixth-year Gryffindor/Slytherin class that he had the following morning. He intended to make good use of that time. He arrived in his office, however to find someone already there.

"Severus," He acknowledged, nodding. He had no idea how Snape had gotten there so fast - Remus had used one of his much-favored shortcuts himself, in fact. Who knew.

Snape curled his lip upon seeing Remus, as if his very presence contaminated the room. "I was just leaving you your potion...the full moon is in a week, surely you haven't forgotten?" He asked with contempt.

Remus mentally berated himself. With the excitement of arriving at school, and the Triwizard Tournament, he _had _forgotten - and Snape knew it.

"I didn't forget," He lied stiffly. "How could I?"

"Indeed, Lupin. How _could_ you?" Snape smirked, and swept from the room in a swish of black robes.

Remus sighed. How had he forgotten? Normally he was so on top of that...

"I must be getting old," He told the empty space in his office. Of course, it didn't answer back.

He drained his goblet, trying not to pull a face, and set it back on his desk. After collecting the necessary materials, he walked out of the room in the direction of the Defence classroom and prepared for the next day.

* * *

The following morning, Remus strolled down the hallway to his first period Defence class, ignoring the glares that some of the passing students were shooting him, and thought about the letter that he had recieved that morning in Sirius's messy scrawl;

_Moony-_

_I hope that the students and Snape haven't been giving you too much trouble, knowing about your little problem. If you can, meet me outside place where Prongs had his first kiss tomorrow...any time tomorrow is fine, it's not like I'm busy, or anything. Bring as much food as you can manage._

_Padfoot_

Sirius was so subtle sometimes. About 90 percent of the school would be able to figure out that Moony was him, and quite a few people could guess that the place that James kissed Lily was somewhere in Hogsmeade...he'd have to discuss that with Sirius when he next saw him.

He rounded the corner and came in view of the doors of the Defence room. There was a rather unusual amount of noise coming from it, but with Fred and George Weasley in that class, it was inevitable.

He entered the doors to find a little more than he bargained for.

There were hexes flying everywhere. A third of the class was covered in some sort of strange facial disorder, some were suffering from the Jelly Legs Jinx, and some had a strange combination of both. No one in the classroom, except for Remus, was undamaged.

_"Silencio!" _

There was an cracking noise, followed by blessed silence. Thankfully, the class hadn't learned how to do wordless spells - that would change soon.

"So," Remus said cheerfully, "Anyone care to tell me what happened?"

It turned out that one of the Weasley twins, of course, had performed a sticking charm on a Slytherin's chair, causing one thing to lead into another, until it had eventually erupted into a full-scale battle, Gryffindors versus Slytherins.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor," He decided reluctantly. "Twenty points from Slytherin, as well. Please take your seats."

A quickly muttered _Finite Incantatem _lifted the silencing charm from the class completely. The Slytherins shot their Professor murderous glares, while the Gryffindors, particularly Fred and George, didn't seem at all fazed.

"Alright. Now that we've gotten that settled, we're going to be working on wordless spells for the next couple of classes..."

The period passed without any further unfortunate incidents, aside from the occasional snide comment from a Slytherin about Remus's lycanthropy. Some of them were actually quite funny, or stupid, depending on the view. Finally, the class was over, leaving Remus fifteen more minutes to prepare for his next class.

As the last couple of students started to clean up and leave Fred and George Weasley came up to him as he was preparing a trunk that contained a boggart for his third years.

"Anything wrong?" He asked them, becoming quite frightened by the identical grins on their faces.

"No, nothing is _wrong,_" Fred began, confirming his fears. "We were just wondering..."

"You know, little habit of ours..."

"If you knew..."

"Someone by the name of..."

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, or Prongs."

Remus froze. The comment had taken him completely by surprise. "Where did you hear that?" He asked indifferently, but he knew that it was no use trying to pull it off.

"Oh, you know...around..."

He stood up and sighed. "Did Harry tell you?"

George gaped at him. "So...you _are _Moony! Sweet name, by the way..."

"I never said I was."

"So who's Padfoot and Wormtail and Prongs?"

Remus sighed again. They obviously knew, but he still decided to have one more shot at it. "Okay, listen, you two. I want you to forget whatever you were told by Harry. I know Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, but I certainly-"

"Oh, come of it, Professor. It's really obvious-"

"You're a terrible liar, by the way-"

"So it would be helpful-"

_"Extremely _helpful-"

"If you accepted the fact that we know-"

"And told us who they are."

"Were," He corrected them. "One's dead, one betrayed me, and one is on the run for a crime that he didn't commit."

With that said, he swept hurriedly out of the room for a quick break at the teacher's lounge, leaving the Weasley twins opened-mouthed in his wake. He didn't want to think about his four school companions right now - it was too painful. He couldn't keep running from misfortunes, though. In fact, one was about to meet him, very, very soon.

* * *

The rest of the day dragged on. Remus felt as if he was about to pass out from the heat in the Defence classroom. It was a wonder that it could possibly be so hot in _winter. _To him, winter was supposed to be a time full of snowball fights, hot cocoa, snowmen, and other snow-filled activities. This heat was just _unnatural. _

By eighth period, he felt as if he was about to pass out. When the last of the students disappeared out into the corridor, chatting and laughing amongst their friends, Remus sat down on the uncomfortable wooden chair at his desk, putting his aching head head in his hands. _If this is how it is going to be every day, I'm not looking forward to it._

Oh, well. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better.

He got up, stretching, and began to gather up all of his things_. _He lugged the now-empty trunk to the back of the room, and pushed it into the snug corner next to the stairs.

There was no warning.

One moment, he was bending down, shoving the trunk so that there were no gaps between it and the wall. The next moment, his classroom swam out of focus and he dropped to the ground, gasping.

The world was spinning, getting darker. Spots danced before his eyes. Everything was fuzzy.

Then it all gave way to darkness.

* * *

It was while after until he regained consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised, first of all, to find himself, not in his bed, but on the cold, hard wooden floor of his defence room. The events of...however long ago it was...came rushing back to him. Second of all, he was confused by the lack of light in the spacious room. The windows in the room were dark, with a couple specs of light that were the stars. With difficulty, he raised the cheap brown leather watch on his wrist to where he could see the clock. _11:32. _He had been unconscious for five hours, since seven thirty. Not too bad, but not exactly good, either...

He lay on the floor for several minutes before he realized that he was able to move. He sat up, and gasped as his head reacted to the sudden movement. The world swam...he put his hands on the wall to steady himself, and slowly stood up.

_I should probably go to the hospital wing..._

No, it was too far, all the way at the other side of the castle. He would be fine. It was probably just...post-transformation, or something...maybe a reaction to all of the sights and smells...

Speaking of smells, there was a rather disgusting one coming from his office down the hallway. It took a few moments to place it. After a brief recollection, he remembered. "Wolfsbane," He groaned out loud. He hated that stuff. It was right up there with Blood-Flavored Lollipops, Pepper Imps, and asparagus...

He hadn't taken any that day, which meant...if he didn't take it now, before 12:00...he wouldn't be safe.

Hurriedly, he limped down the hallway, courtesy of having previously banged his leg on a desk and receiving a large red mark that was sure to bruise. He opened the door, and there it was, sitting on the desk tauntingly. Remus crossed the room, picked up the golden goblet and downed the potion in a gulp, pulling a face. Disgusting.

He unslung a large, black leather bag from his shoulder that he had purchased at the beginning of this year because, finally, he had just enough money to afford it. In the bag was an assortment of rifled papers. He took them out. A couple papers drifted to the floor, and he picked them up. He sat down at his desk, with the papers in a messy pile next to him.

Remus took the top paper from the stack. In the corner was,

_Maria Andrews_

_Sixth Year  
_

_Ravenclaw_

_Due Wednesday_

In neat writing. He sighed. He _really _didn't want to grade papers right now...

It was going to be a long week.

* * *

"Ha! Take that!"

Harry Potter's voice rang out through the Gryffindor Common Room. No one looked up; it wasn't hard to guess what he was currently doing.

Opposite him, Ron looked up from the chess board with a grin on his face. Harry knew that grin. He groaned.

"I'm about to get busted, aren't I?"

"Yep," Ron said happily. He moved his castle. "Checkmate. Don't speak too soon."

"For once, I actually manage to get your _bishop, _of all things, and again, you say that it's all 'part of the plan.'" Harry was mumbling, but Ron still heard him.

"Pretty much," He agreed. "Castle to d2."

Ron's castle moved forward. Ron leaned forward eagerly. "This is always my favorite part," He said, eyes trained on the board."

Harry snorted, but still watching as miniature crossbow bolts streaked from the castle and slammed into Harry's black king, leaving small crack marks in the stone. The king wobbled a bit, then abruptly fell down, his crown rolling off and coming to a stop at the castle's feet. All of the white pieces cheered, while the remaining blacks groaned.

Ron leaned back in satisfaction, muttering, "Reparo," as the pieces, mostly Harry's, fixed themselves. "Wanna play again?"

"No," Harry replied, scooting back his chair and stretching. "I'm going to bed. It's late."

Ron shrugged. "Whatever." He swept the chess set into its box.

"You really should do some homework," Hermione scolded, looking up from her large arithmancy textbook. "If you don't do it now, you'll never get it done."

Ron and Harry groaned. "We'll do it tomorrow," Harry said. At Hermione's reproachful look, he continued. "Oh, lighten up. It's our first day back!"

Hermione shrugged. "Your loss," she said, huffing.

Harry and Ron continued on their way to the boy's dorm, chatting on their way up the stairs.

"I can't wait for the other schools to arrive tomorrow," Ron said thoughtfully. "Wonder which they are."

"Yeah..." Harry replied, not fully paying attention. He had gotten little sleep the previous night. He had been too excited about the start of school to really try. It had been hard for him to focus that day. History of Magic was especially torturous.

Ron was still talking, oblivious to the fact that no one was listening. "I heard that Victor Krum's going to be here. Probably Durmstrang, then. Wonder what the other schools are..."

They made it to their dorm room. Dean and Seamus were already in their beds. Seamus was snoring softly, and Dean was laying on his side, facing away from the two newcomers.

Harry and Ron quickly changed and climbed into their beds. Within minutes, even louder snores than Seamus's drifted into earshot.

Harry found no trouble, for once, in letting his mind drift away. Within minutes, he had closed his eyes as sleep overcame him.

* * *

_It was dark. The only light was the near-full moon hanging in the blue-black blanket overhead. The only sounds were crickets chirping, and occasionally, the rustle of a small animal moving in the underbrush. The only sights were the tall, looming trees, casting large, black shadows on the forest floor. To any onlooker, all would seem peaceful. They could never be farther from the truth._

_Somewhere deep in the woods, a small, mousy man hurried along a forgotten path, making as little noise as possible. The path led to a fork in the road. Instead of taking either left or forward, the man went right, off of the path, into the darkness of the woods._

_Somewhere nearby, a dark emerald-green snake with red eyes raised its head, with its tongue flickering out, tasting the air. It began to slither in the direction of the man._

_The man paused. He turned around, his dark, mousy eyes scanning the bushes. "Master?" He called out uncertainly into the night. _

_The snake slithered into view, raising its head and staring the man in the eye. The man saw the snake, jumped a bit, and shivered. "I have c-come, master."  
_

_The creepiest events transpired in the next few moments. The snake twitched once, and fell to the ground, eyes closed, looking very much dead. Then, some sort of...smoke?...seemed to rise out of the snake, like steam rising up from a pot of boiling water. The smoke hovered in the air for a moment, and collected itself, becoming denser. Then it began to take the shape of a ghostly apparition with a snake-like face, billowing black robes, and curved, talon-like hands. It was none other than the most feared wizard in the wizard world, Lord Voldemort._

_The man was shaking uncontrollably. His small eyes were wide with fear. "M-master. I tried to come, but-"_

_The apparation cut him off. "No excuse, Wormtail. I don't care that you spend twelve years hiding from that idiot Black...and my _faithful _servants..."_

_The man, Wormtail, whispered, "How did you-"_

_"I have my ways. And as much as I wish to punish you for your mistakes, I suppose that you have your uses..._

_You are going to help me to return."_

* * *

Harry woke up, sweating. The first rays of daylight were filtering in through the window. _It's not real. It's was just a dream, _He told himself. _It _can't _have been real..._

Ron saved him from his thoughts. He got up, groaning. "Whattimeisit?" He asked, stretching.

"Probably time for breakfast." Harry answered. He got out of bed reluctantly and started to get dressed. Neville was still sleeping, but Dean and Seamus's beds were empty. "Neville, wake up."

"Mmhh?"

"It's time for breakfast."

"'Kay...I'm comin'."

Once both Neville and Ron were ready, they made their way down to breakfast and took a seat next to Hermione at the breakfast table, who was scanning the _Daily Prophet. _

"Anything interesting?" Ron asked her, taking his seat on the other side of Hermione.

"Not really...John O'Neil is the new head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures..."

Ron looked over her shoulder. "How can you say that there's nothing interesting if you don't even _look _in the sports section?"

Hermione glared at him and resumed reading. Ron shrugged and went back to shoveling food into his mouth.

"Look at Professor Lupin," Harry muttered to Hermione and Ron."He doesn't look too good, does he?"

Ron and Hermione glanced up to where the said person was sitting. "No," Hermione replied anxiously. "He looks ill."

"He always looks ill," Ron replied. "'Cause...you know...maybe the full moon was last night?"

"No, it's in five days...wonder what's wrong..."

Breakfast ended, and their discussion was quickly forgotten as they made their way to their classes.

* * *

They had Defence Against the Dark Arts for the first time at third period. The Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs filed in and they sat chatting as they waited for Professor Lupin to arrive.

"I really hope that we're doing something practical," Ron whispered excitedly to Harry and Hermione. "Like, not reading books, or anything like that.

"Books aren't all that bad," Hermione protested, looking slightly hurt. "You just have to give them a chance."

"We always do practical things in Professor Lupin's lessons, anyway," Harry said.

"Well, yeah, but we're fourth years now, and it might be different this year..."

Harry looked up as Professor Lupin walked into the room. "We're about to find out."

The noise in the room died down. A couple of the Hufflepuffs were watching him warily, but other than that, no one in the room looked the least bit bothered by the Professor's presence.

Harry had been right; Lupin's face was chalk-white and his steps were a bit unsteady. No one but Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed to notice, though.

Professor Lupin attempted a weak smile. "Good morning, class," he said, feigning cheeriness. "I'd like you to open your books to page 83. We're going to be working on blocking hexes and curses with the shield charm over the course of the week: Today, we're just going to be doing an introduction, and practicing blocking 'expelliarmus.'

There was a rustling noise as people got their books out and flipped to the right page. Harry gazed down at the large black and white picture displayed. It showed two wizards facing the other. The first was shooting a jet of white light at the other, and the second had a mushroom-shaped shield emerging from his wand. As they watched, the light hit the shield and ricocheted off in a different direction.

"Who knows what the incantation for the shield charm is?"

To nobody's surprise, Hermione's hand was the first hand in the air. Harry saw the corner of his Professor's mouth twitch as his gaze fell on her.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Protego, sir," she said breathlessly. "In latin, it means to protect. It can't block the unforgivables, though. The're also Protego Totalum and Protego Horribilis, which are other forms-"

Professor Lupin held up his hand, smiling. "Protego will do just fine," he said. A couple people laughed. Hermione went red in the face and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry," she muttered.

"So! I want everyone to partner up and practice blocking disarming spells. Does anyone not know how to do a disarming spell?" Neville raised a hand, looking very embarrassed. "That's fine," Professor Lupin said, nodding encouragingly. "You're just going to be working with me. Now, get started, everyone!"

Harry got partnered up with Ron, while Hermione was partners with a red-haired Hufflepuff. "Ready?" Harry asked Ron, grinning.

"I guess." Ron said, shrugging. "You?"

"Yep. One, two..."

_"Expelliarmus!" _Harry shouted. Ron, caught off guard, didn't get a chance to defend himself as his want flew out of his hand. Harry caught it deftly in the way that only a seeker would have been able to do. He tossed the wand back to Ron.

"How about we switch roles?" Ron asked him, looking a bit put out by the fact that Harry managed to disarm him so easily.

"Sure. One, two..."

_"Expelliarmus!"_

_"Protego!"_

A jet of red light shot out of Ron's wand as a golden mist emerged from Harry's and formed a shield-like barrier. Ron's spell bounced off of Harry's shield, the owner of which was grinning broadly.

Professor Lupin looked over. "Nice job, Harry," He said. Harry couldn't be sure, but he thought that there was a hint of pride in his teacher's voice.

By the end of the lesson, Ron succeeded in producing a thin golden mist along with nearly half of the class, Seamus Finnigan had managed to blow up the pencil holder that sat on Professor Lupin's desk, and Neville Longbottom had managed to disarm his professor, though Harry thought that he was holding onto his wand rather loosely. Nearly half of the class also managed to make their wand produce some sort of shield, no matter how weak it may be. Everyone left the classroom in high spirits. All in all, it had been a rather successful lesson.

* * *

Sorry about the change of chapters...I didn't like the original very much. Don't worry, though...there's going to be some action soon! And, yes, Harry will still go into the tournament in later chapters.

Any ideas of what I should name this chapter? I think that it needs something a bit more interesting than 'Chapter Three'...

And thanks to all of my reviewers (Not that I have very many yet...YET! I will! Just you wait...), **Messrs moony and padfoot**, **latinanewschic, crazyme03, PheonixOfIce, Lightningscar, **and **ComicalEpiphanies**. If you're feeling up to it, just give the little REVIEW CHAPTER down there a click...really, it's not that hard! All feedback is welcomed, good and bad!


	3. Chapter Three

Sorry about the little chapter mix-up again. If you're wondering where the original Ch. Three went, don't worry, I didn't delete it, I just merged it with Two, partly 'cause I didn't think it was long enough, partly because I was too lazy to come up with a name for it. It might be a bit confusing. My apologies.


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